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Publication
Geointelligence against illegal deforestation and timber laundering in the brazilian Amazon
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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
Due to the characteristics of the Southern Amazonas Mesoregion (Mesorregião Sul do Amazonas, MSA), conducting on-site surveys in all licensed forestry areas (Plano de Manejo Florestal, PMFS) is an impossible task. Therefore, the present investigation aimed to: (i) analyze the use of geointelligence (GEOINT) techniques to support the evaluation of PMFS; and (ii) verify if the PMFS located in the MSA are being executed in accordance with Brazilian legislation. A set of twenty-two evaluation criteria were established. These were initially applied to a “standard” PMFS and subsequently replicated to a larger area of 83 PMFS, located in the MSA. GEOINT allowed for a better understanding of each PMFS, identifying illegal forestry activities and evidence of timber laundering. Among these results, we highlight the following evidences: (i) inconsistencies related to total transport time and prices declared to the authorities (70% of PMFS); (ii) volumetric information incompatible with official forest inventories and/or not conforming with Benford’s law (54% of PMFS); (iii) signs of exploitation outside the authorized polygon limits (51% of PMFS) and signs of clear-cutting (43% of PMFS); (iv) no signs of infrastructure compatible with licensed forestry (24% of PMFS); and (v) signs of exploitation prior to the licensing (19% of PMFS) and after the expiration of licensing (5%).
Description
Keywords
Amazon Benford’s law Deforestation Forestry management Geointelligence Organized crime PMFS RADAM SisDOF Timber laundering
Citation
Perazzoni, F.; Bacelar-Nicolau, P.; Painho, M. Geointelligence against Illegal Deforestation and Timber Laundering in the Brazilian Amazon. ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2020, 9, 398. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi9060398
Publisher
MDPI